Interesting that. I got a post-grad diploma (in Training & Development) and had to get a letter from the uni saying it was indeed a 'post-grad' diploma as the word 'diploma' in some countries doesn't mean anything.

because in some countries one can acquire a "diploma" in a two week long course.

Indeed confusing.

An example:

Diplom Ingenieur = graduate engineer

Ingenieur (grad) = engineer with academic degree

Please help me if I am wrong.

Interesting that. I got a post-grad diploma (in Training & Development) and had to get a letter from the uni saying it was indeed a 'post-grad' diploma as the word 'diploma' in some countries doesn't mean anything.

because in some countries one can acquire a "diploma" in a two week long course.

Indeed confusing.

An example:

Diplom Ingenieur = graduate engineer

Ingenieur (grad) = engineer with academic degree

Please help me if I am wrong.

only the translation is confusing and in my view not correct. "Ing. grad." (limited to mechanical and civil engineering) is the equivalent of a bachelor degree. to the best of my knowledge these are until now the only subjects in which bachelor degrees can be obtained. otherwise it's all Diplom (Master's) or nothing.

german is not a difficult language at all. in Germany even small children age four and five speak german fluently. so why should it be difficult for a (i assume) grown up Brit to learn the language?

one caveat though. the chance that a foreigner will ever be able to use correct german grammar is equivalent to the one of a snowball in héll. making grammar mistakes is a burden even highly educated Germans have to bear. it's a breeze for a German to learn english but not the other way round.

by the way, i beg to differ as far as german "difficult" pronunciation is concerned. there are rather strict rules which cover (my guess) 95% of the words although the rules are not as easy to learn as the french or spanish pronunciation rules. english has no pronunciation rules and it happens quite often that i ask my wife how an english word is pronounced although i have known, read and wrote it a zillion times but never heard it spoken.

I have heard something like this before. What is the major differences between High and Low German? That is the correct way to refer to the differences right?

"low german" does not exist. besides "normal" german, different dialects are spoken. some of them vary so much that people from different areas are not able to communicate if using these dialects. even villages located only a few kilometers apart might use completely different words.

as far as "high german" is concerned two versions exist. one is based on using exclusively words with germanic roots, the other one is substituting (when possible) the germanic roots with romanic ones. people with basic education will have no problems to understand "high german" with germanic roots. it is however possible that two Germans use the romanic version and a not highly educated german listener will understand only a part and not get the gist what is discussed.

comparing english with german one finds thousands of words with the same spelling but different pronunciation or same proncunciation but different spelling. examples: finger, hand, arm, house, land.

Sorry, I know it's maybe a bit nitpicking. I can not entirly agree - i.e. "arm". It has the same meaning in English and German but can also mean "poor" in German. What I want to say is some words look the same, are pronounced the same but do have more than a single meaning.

Sorry, I know it's maybe a bit nitpicking. I can not entirly agree - i.e. "arm". It has the same meaning in English and German but can also mean "poor" in German. What I want to say is some words look the same, are pronounced the same but do have more than a single meaning.

Doesn't have to be different languages..... i.e. His invalid pass was invalid.

german is not a difficult language at all. in Germany even small children age four and five speak german fluently. so why should it be difficult for a (i assume) grown up Brit to learn the language?

one caveat though. the chance that a foreigner will ever be able to use correct german grammar is equivalent to the one of a snowball in héll. making grammar mistakes is a burden even highly educated Germans have to bear. it's a breeze for a German to learn english but not the other way round.

by the way, i beg to differ as far as german "difficult" pronunciation is concerned. there are rather strict rules which cover (my guess) 95% of the words although the rules are not as easy to learn as the french or spanish pronunciation rules. english has no pronunciation rules and it happens quite often that i ask my wife how an english word is pronounced although i have known, read and wrote it a zillion times but never heard it spoken.

I have heard something like this before. What is the major differences between High and Low German? That is the correct way to refer to the differences right?

"low german" does not exist. besides "normal" german, different dialects are spoken. some of them vary so much that people from different areas are not able to communicate if using these dialects. even villages located only a few kilometers apart might use completely different words.

as far as "high german" is concerned two versions exist. one is based on using exclusively words with germanic roots, the other one is substituting (when possible) the germanic roots with romanic ones. people with basic education will have no problems to understand "high german" with germanic roots. it is however possible that two Germans use the romanic version and a not highly educated german listener will understand only a part and not get the gist what is discussed.

comparing english with german one finds thousands of words with the same spelling but different pronunciation or same proncunciation but different spelling. examples: finger, hand, arm, house, land.

Sorry, I know it's maybe a bit nitpicking. I can not entirly agree - i.e. "arm". It has the same meaning in English and German but can also mean "poor" in German. What I want to say is some words look the same, are pronounced the same but do have more than a single meaning.

that's correct. but the sequence "finger, hand, arm" indicates what "arm" is meant

bepop

for european language thats easier, Id propose Spanish. it also has wide use, and is one of UN official language so can come very handy

(I had an interest in german myself , still do actually, but didnt manage to learn it as the pronunciations are impossible for me)

for asian language, instead of chinese or japanese, why not try indonesian? is in demand if you want to work in south east asia, relatively easy, if for no other reason it is romanised, and i believe has minimal grammar. you can use it in indonesia, but will also be able to manage in malaysia once you have learnt it

I fully agree that Spanish is much easier for an English speaker to learn (speaking/listening, reading/writing)

And Bahasa Malayu or Bahasa Indonesia caver a large secrion of SE asia. But Mandarin Chinese is the future commercial language of the entire area and is of far more importance culturally as well.

Nigeria, 1980

Ministry of Interior

subject: work/residence permit

Dear Dr. Naam,

we regret to inform you that a work/residence permit cannot be issued as you do not meet the qualifications specified in your employment contract. your diploma is not a substitute for the required master's degree.

Why would someone with a masters degree be called Doctor, isn't a PHD needed for that?

Thanks for posting you guys.

Right now I am working on a BA in East Asian History. I plan to continue on to PhD level to research and teach college. My focus is Sino-Thai relations. I am interested how these two peoples have dealt with each other over the centuries as well as now. So, in this sense German will not help. However, with a family it's not easy to move and the college I am at ,University of Kansas, the Chinese program is harsh. It is designed by a bitter women has told her students Chinese is too hard for almost all Americans, she however is different I guess. In other words to get my BA and continue my work it might be a good idea to find a langauge as well as a professer that is a little more reasonable.

German is for me a ancestral language, at least from one side. I am American and my last Name is Brammer, so I always wanted to learn it and the parts of Europe I wanted to see is where I can use it. I have always wanted to see Northern Europe, UK and Russia. I know I can use German is many countries to help get by, but it won't help me academically, besides helping me meet my language requirement for my BA.

If Spanish is available as a foreign language elective, I would suggest you consider it. Let's face it, by the time you are teaching in college in the USA, half your students might be latino.

Thanks for posting you guys.

Right now I am working on a BA in East Asian History. I plan to continue on to PhD level to research and teach college. My focus is Sino-Thai relations. I am interested how these two peoples have dealt with each other over the centuries as well as now. So, in this sense German will not help. However, with a family it's not easy to move and the college I am at ,University of Kansas, the Chinese program is harsh. It is designed by a bitter women has told her students Chinese is too hard for almost all Americans, she however is different I guess. In other words to get my BA and continue my work it might be a good idea to find a langauge as well as a professer that is a little more reasonable.

German is for me a ancestral language, at least from one side. I am American and my last Name is Brammer, so I always wanted to learn it and the parts of Europe I wanted to see is where I can use it. I have always wanted to see Northern Europe, UK and Russia. I know I can use German is many countries to help get by, but it won't help me academically, besides helping me meet my language requirement for my BA.

If Spanish is available as a foreign language elective, I would suggest you consider it. Let's face it, by the time you are teaching in college in the USA, half your students might be latino.

In parts of Caliornia they already are.

bepop

for european language thats easier, Id propose Spanish. it also has wide use, and is one of UN official language so can come very handy

(I had an interest in german myself , still do actually, but didnt manage to learn it as the pronunciations are impossible for me)

for asian language, instead of chinese or japanese, why not try indonesian? is in demand if you want to work in south east asia, relatively easy, if for no other reason it is romanised, and i believe has minimal grammar. you can use it in indonesia, but will also be able to manage in malaysia once you have learnt it

I fully agree that Spanish is much easier for an English speaker to learn (speaking/listening, reading/writing)

And Bahasa Malayu or Bahasa Indonesia caver a large secrion of SE asia. But Mandarin Chinese is the future commercial language of the entire area and is of far more importance culturally as well.

That is why I am still going to learn Mandarin, just not now as an undergrad. Taking this last year in Chinese I have learned I can learn it I just need more time than is given to me within the semester. So, later I will focus on it. For now I will work with German and I may even have some spare time to pick up my Thai again. My wife was helping me learn but too much school to do and now I have forgotten so much. I would like to keep that going if only slowly.

Thanks for posting you guys.

Right now I am working on a BA in East Asian History. I plan to continue on to PhD level to research and teach college. My focus is Sino-Thai relations. I am interested how these two peoples have dealt with each other over the centuries as well as now. So, in this sense German will not help. However, with a family it's not easy to move and the college I am at ,University of Kansas, the Chinese program is harsh. It is designed by a bitter women has told her students Chinese is too hard for almost all Americans, she however is different I guess. In other words to get my BA and continue my work it might be a good idea to find a langauge as well as a professer that is a little more reasonable.

German is for me a ancestral language, at least from one side. I am American and my last Name is Brammer, so I always wanted to learn it and the parts of Europe I wanted to see is where I can use it. I have always wanted to see Northern Europe, UK and Russia. I know I can use German is many countries to help get by, but it won't help me academically, besides helping me meet my language requirement for my BA.

If Spanish is available as a foreign language elective, I would suggest you consider it. Let's face it, by the time you are teaching in college in the USA, half your students might be latino.

Even elementary schools offer Spanish. I took Spanish so long ago and never liked it. I hope that Latin Americans keep their Spanish as they learn English because it's good to have more than one language, but English is still the langauge of the land and they need to make sure they can use it. I am against changing too much legal or government langauge use. This will only lead to stronger divisons with the population which will lead to hate and separatism, America already has too much of this.